How many people watched Super Bowl LVIII live and how does the viewership compare to NBA Finals? Exploring the stats behind 2 major sporting events
The Super Bowl LVII and NBA Finals are two of the biggest sporting events in US Sports every year. Both garner plenty of viewership across the board. Football and basketball have nearly the same importance across the country. However, their following could defer.
For decades, the NFL has been a dominant force in American television, with the Super Bowl serving as the pinnacle that marks the conclusion of the professional football season, akin to a secular national holiday.
How many people watched Super Bowl LVII live and how does the viewership compare to NBA Finals?
With Super Bowl LVIII done and dusted after Chiefs' triumph over the 49ers, there's widespread anticipation that CBS is poised to break the record for the most-watched TV show in history.
Last year, Fox Sports set the bar high with an average of 115.1 million viewers. The addition of Taylor Swift to the NFL season has attracted a substantial number of new fans. As her private jet touched down in Los Angeles en route to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, CBS and NFL executives couldn't contain their excitement, celebrating the potential achievement with popping champagne corks.
In the context of the current state of the television industry, Super Bowl LVII beat the NBA Finals' viewership by a significant margin. The former reportedly had 113.06 million viewers tuned in. As per Nielsen, while the 2023 NBA Finals had an average of 11.64m viewers on ABC, with final game in the series drew a peak audience of 17.88 million, according to SportsPro.
Both sports are exciting to watch and have a tremendous fan following. The pool of superstars in both leagues contributes to them attracting large audiences. However, the Super Bowl remains one of the most-watched major sporting events in the US.
The Super Bowl has breached the 100 million viewership mark 11 times since 2011. Meanwhile, the best the finals could do in terms of viewership in the same time frame was 20 million views in 2016 and 2017.
A bevy of factors have contributed to the Super Bowl dominating the NBA Finals in this aspect. The finals are a best-of-seven-game series. The format remains the same throughout the playoffs as well. Time zones often differ as per the venue, as a finals series is played between an Eastern Conference team and a Western Conference team.
Some of these games are on weekdays when the viewership takes a significant dip. Additionally, teams have homecourt advantage, and the majority of the fans are in the arena watching the game live instead of on TV. In return, that hampers the average viewership that a seven-game finals series draws every year.
But that isn't the case with the Super Bowl. The venue is often neutral. Two of the last three Super Bowls have been played at a neutral venue due to co-incidences, but the crowd hasn't been one-sided. Home advantage doesn't exist in this scenario.
Additionally, the Super Bowl is a one-off contest. Other sporting events, including the NBA, are at a halt when American Football's mega event takes place.
Click here to view Nielsen's data regarding Super Bowl viewership.
Click here to view Statista's data regarding viewerships.